Housewife disabled in road mishap gets Rs 2.12L compensation: Oriental Insurance

A 56-year-old housewife, who suffered permanent disability in a road mishap involving a rashly-driven car three years ago, has been awarded over Rs 2.12 lakh as compensation by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

The Tribunal has directed Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, with which the vehicle was insured, to pay Rs 2.12 lakh as compensation to Delhi resident Ram Kaur who sustained injuries in the accident.

“The place where the accident took place was clearly visible from a long distance and thus it was incumbent upon the respondent no.1 (driver) to have noticed the petitioner (Kaur) crossing the road/on the middle of the road in order to avert the possibility of the accident.

“Facts and circumstances rather show that he did not take reasonable care, drove the car rashly and caused the accident, resulting in injuries on the person of Kaur,” the MACT Presiding Officer Sanjiv Jain said.

Kaur had moved the Tribunal seeking a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, saying that on November 18, 2009 when she was crossing the road in front of Qutub Hotel in South Delhi, a car driven in a rash and negligent manner hit her.

She said she suffered grievous injuries in the mishap and was taken to JPN Trauma Center in AIIMS and was released from the hospital after nine days.

She said she suffered 33 per cent permanent disability in the mishap and cannot look after her family members as earlier.

Kaur further told the Tribunal that she followed up her treatment as an OPD (Out Patient Department) patient and also became permanent disabled.

“…the injured is a housewife and does not have any permanent income but she has been rendering gratuitous services to her family.

“One has to admit that in the long run, the services rendered by a woman in the household sustains a supply of labour to the economy and keep human societies by weaving the social fabric and keeping it in good repair,” the Tribunal said.